EP0249433B1 - Improvements in rotating biological contactors, and a method for their manufacture - Google Patents

Improvements in rotating biological contactors, and a method for their manufacture Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0249433B1
EP0249433B1 EP19870305063 EP87305063A EP0249433B1 EP 0249433 B1 EP0249433 B1 EP 0249433B1 EP 19870305063 EP19870305063 EP 19870305063 EP 87305063 A EP87305063 A EP 87305063A EP 0249433 B1 EP0249433 B1 EP 0249433B1
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EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
effluent
drum
vanes
rotor
rotating biological
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
EP19870305063
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German (de)
English (en)
French (fr)
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EP0249433A1 (en
Inventor
James Patrick Joseph Butler
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Individual
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Publication of EP0249433A1 publication Critical patent/EP0249433A1/en
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    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C02—TREATMENT OF WATER, WASTE WATER, SEWAGE, OR SLUDGE
    • C02F—TREATMENT OF WATER, WASTE WATER, SEWAGE, OR SLUDGE
    • C02F3/00—Biological treatment of water, waste water, or sewage
    • C02F3/02—Aerobic processes
    • C02F3/08—Aerobic processes using moving contact bodies
    • C02F3/082—Rotating biological contactors
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02W—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO WASTEWATER TREATMENT OR WASTE MANAGEMENT
    • Y02W10/00—Technologies for wastewater treatment
    • Y02W10/10—Biological treatment of water, waste water, or sewage

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to improvements in rotating biological contactors, and to methods for their manufacture.
  • Rotating biological contactors are used in the treatment of raw sewage effluent, by agitation and aeration to render it safe for discharge into natural waterways.
  • the surfaces of the rotating contactor media when brought into continuous contact with raw sewage effluent and air develop a microbiological growth. This growth, in turn, feeds upon the nutrients in the effluent so as to accelerate the lowering of its biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) by means of the natural process of aerobic respiration.
  • BOD biochemical oxygen demand
  • BOD should not exceed 20 mg./I. with a suspended solids content of less than 30 p.p.m.
  • domestic sewage effluent has an average BOD concentration of 200-250 mg./I., but a rotating biological contactor treatment system is capable of reducing the BOD concentration to safe levels for discharge without the addition of chemicals.
  • the suspended solids content is reduced by means of conventional settlement and clarification tanks.
  • rotating biological contactors have been constructed in very many different ways but essentially comprise an open rotor structure of semi-buoyant lightweight material which is rotatable on a shaft and which is partly submerged in the effluent to be treated.
  • the rotor includes or defines a structure having a high surface area providing a suitable substrate for biomass growth, such as a series of discs which may be embossed (e.g. GB 2,118,535A), or divided into sectors (e.g. GB 1,394,552), a drum defined by an open mesh enclosing loose particulate media (e.g. GB 1,408,235), or sheets or tubes wound in a spiral or helical fashion about the shaft (e.g.
  • Rotating biological contactors have also been constructed by cutting thin flexible sheet material such as glass reinforced plastics (G.R.P.) into strips and placing the strips edgewise onto a static base template defining a spiral pattern of individual vanes emanating from a central axis.
  • the base template is made of light steel defining raised or upstanding vanes, on which the G.R.P. vanes are manually wound, pressing against one side of the template vanes.
  • a flat disc of the same G.R.P. material defines a rotor "blank" which is coated with resin on one side. While the resin is still wet, the sheet is placed on top of the upstanding edges of the vanes held on the template and allowed to adhere thereto by placing weights on top of the disc.
  • DK 2002/83 discloses a drum structure having two sets of spiral vanes wound in opposite directions and divided by a single axially mounted disc which defines a partition.
  • the inlets and outlets are located at opposite ends of the drum near the shaft and not at the periphery of the drum end faces.
  • a lifting and lowering effect is obtained by the oppositely wound spiral vanes in this arrangement to pass effluent through the contactor.
  • a certain minimum quantity of effluent is present in the drum at any given time to make the drum more buoyant and so reduce the load on the shaft.
  • DK 0089/84 discloses a non-partitioned drum having a spiral vane construction which has inlets near the periphery of the drum.
  • US 4 160 736 describes a drum structure having closely-spaced discs mounted on a shaft with a spiral vane arrangement at each end of the drum having the function of carrying effluent towards inlets and outlets which are located in the axial region at the respective end faces of the drum.
  • a relatively small quantity of effluent is held in the drum at any given time, which acts as a "rotating trickling filter" and does not provide the same positive aeration by virtue of a churning action as provided by a contactor having an enclosed spiral vane arrangement.
  • the rotating biological contactor of the present invention seeks to minimise or eliminate effluent by-pass by increasing the contactor surface area available for biomass growth per linear metre of shaft, and by enclosing the space surrounding the rotor vanes in a novel drum structure having a nett lift effect, and by recirculating treated effluent by a simple gravity feed mechanism.
  • the present invention provides a rotating biological contactor for sewage effluent treatment comprising a semi-buoyant rotor structure mounted on a shaft supporting a plurality of coaxially-mounted discs each sandwiching therebetween a series of closely-spaced spiral vanes available as a biomass growth substrate, characterised in that the rotor structure is enclosed within a drum including means allowing communication of effluent to be treated for distribution between adjacent sandwiches at the outer periphery of the discs from effluent inlets defined by holes in one end surface of the drum located adjacent to the circumference of the drum, such that during rotation of the drum, the spiral vanes allow a nett lift of effluent to be treated from a first effluent holding tank in which the drum is partly submergable via duct means in the axial region of the rotor structure communicating between adjacent sandwiches leading to an effluent outlet defined in a second end surface of the drum, and discharging to an adjacent holding tank from where treated effluent may be recirculated
  • the outer curved surface of the drum is preferably provided with means to aerate the effluent to be treated, most preferably a series of open-ended transverse or diagonal corrugations (5 or 5a).
  • the surface available as a biomass growth substrate is defined as 200 to 300m 2 , most preferably 250m2, per linear metre of shaft given a rotor diameter of about 1.5 metres.
  • the invention also provides a method of manufacturing a rotor for a rotating biological contactor in thin flexible sheet material, wherein strips of the material are placed edgewise onto a base template (34) to define a spiral pattern of individual vanes (10) emanating from a central hub region (38) which are then adhered to a circular disc (9) of the same material, characterised by clamping the template (34) with the vanes (10) against the disc (9) with a coating of curable adhesive therebetween, supporting the clamped assembly in a jig (30), rotating the clamped assembly if necessary so as to ensure that the vanes face upwards but maintaining the template substantially horizontal, and releasing the finished rotor construction from the jig when curing of the adhesive is complete.
  • the template (34) preferably defines a pattern of spiral grooves (37) adapted to receive and support the vanes (10) during manufacture of the rotor construction.
  • the discs (9) and vanes (10) are preferably made of thin glass-reinforced plastics material.
  • the rotating biological contactor of the present invention on account of its spiral vane rotor construction is essentially a mechanical pump in which a nett lift of effluent can occur, to a height which does not exceed the radius of the rotor, as the rotor rotates in a semi-submerged condition.
  • This, together with the enclosed and intercommunicating spiral vane sandwich structure has the effect of maximising contact between the effluent to be treated and the biomass growth on the vanes, and substantially all the effluent is pumped through the contactor, and is readily recirculated therethrough, thus avoiding by-pass of untreated effluent through the system.
  • a certain amount of by-pass occurs in un- enclosed disc systems, or systems using baffles or a series of parallel discs which do not provide a genuine pumping action. Furthermore the pumping action afforded by the rotating biological contactor of the present invention is such that the biomass growth area is constantly scoured, shearing off any loose growth and keeping the growth layer thin and active.
  • Known disc systems have a problem of biomass bridging which reduces the available surface area and also renders the biomass less active.
  • the comparatively dense packing together of the spiral vanes gives a surface area available for biomass growth considerably greater than prior art constructions.
  • the sandwich construction also allows the said surface area to be conveniently increased by adding additional sandwiches thereby increasing the length of the rotor.
  • the method of manufacturing a rotor for a rotating biological contactor according to the invention ensures that excess adhesive remains at the bonding sites along the edges of the vanes and cannot flow under gravity in the direction of the template, thus ensuring clean removal of the finished rotor construction when the adhesive has cured and hardened.
  • the clamping and supportive action of the template is enhanced by the provision of a pattern of spiral grooves adapted to receive the vanes.
  • the weight of the template does not bear directly on the edges of the vanes causing bending or distortion but rather supports and grips the vanes by their sides during clamping.
  • Glass reinforced plastics material lends itself to strong thin sheet formation of about 5 mm thickness, which is flexible when cut into strips and can easily be formed into spirals without stressing or cracking. It is also inert, is unaffected by biological waste effluents, and requires no special surface treatment to render it suitable as a biomass growth substrate.
  • a rotor 1 for a rotating biological contactor comprises a drum 2 made of glass-reinforced plastics material mounted on a shaft 3 made of mild steel by means of hub mountings 4.
  • the drum 2 consists of an outer shell comprising a curved surface with raised and open-ended transverse corrugations 5, with two circular end faces 6.
  • the end faces 6 are perforated with regularly-spaced inlet holes 7 near their circumference, and outlet holes 8 adjacent to the shaft 3.
  • FIGs 3 and 4 illustrate the internal structure of the rotor 1 which consists of a series of closely- packed discs 9 each having adhered thereto a series of vanes 10 arranged in a spiral pattern about the shaft 3.
  • the discs 9 are fixed to the internal curved surface of the drum by means of tabs 11.
  • the discs 9 are of slightly smaller diameter than the end faces 6, leaving a passageway 13 (see Figure 5) along the length of the drum leading from inlet holes 7 adjacent to the internal curved surface of the drum.
  • the tabs 11 on successive discs are preferably staggered to produce a baffle effect in passageway 13.
  • Each disc 9 has a number of holes 12 between the shaft 3 and the innermost ends of the spiral vanes 10.
  • FIG. 5 illustrates a sewage effluent treatment plant including a rotating biological contactor having two rotors 1 and 1a in accordance with the invention.
  • the plant comprises a tank 20 divided into biozone compartments 21,21 a, in which the rotors 1 and 1 a respectively are partly submerged, and a settlement and clarification compartment 22.
  • the tank 20 may be partly buried below ground.
  • An electric motor 23 such as a single or three-phase motor [e.g. a S.E.W. Eurodrive R.(Trade Mark) motor] with a helical gear unit 24 may be provided to drive the shaft 3 and rotors 1 in the direction indicated by arrow A.
  • Effluent treated by rotor 1 emitting from outlet holes 8 is passed directly to adjacent axially-disposed inlet holes (not shown) in rotor 1a, which therefore does not necessarily require circumferentially-disposed inlet holes 7 as in rotor 1. Due to the nett lift effect, a head or difference in levels will develop between the two biozone compartments 21 and 21 a in which the respective rotors 1, 1a are suspended. Thus, by means of simple gravity feed, effluent treated by rotor 1 a may be recirculated via settlement tank 22 back to biozone compartment 21 for a further pass through the system.
  • a biomass growth develops on the surfaces of the vanes 10 and discs 9 inside the drum 2.
  • the surface area available for biomass growth is typically 250 m 2 per linear metre of shaft given a rotor diameter of 1.6 metres.
  • the available surface area may also be expressed empirically as 100L m 2 , where L equals the vane length in metres.
  • the vanes 10 are closely spaced as shown in Figure 5, and it will be appreciated that the other Figures omit many of the vanes 10 for clarity.
  • the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) of the effluent is reduced by the natural process of aerobic respiration, in a known manner. Oxygen is introduced to the effluent by a process of "active aeration" inside the rotor drum.
  • the type of plant illustrated in Figure 5 may be installed at sites where there is no ready access to a mains sewage disposal system, and has the typical capacity of 40 to 300 P.E. It has the advantage that it can be installed as a unit or added on to an existing septic tank. Hoods 25 may be employed to cover in the tank 20, and in operation the plant produces no noticeable odour and very little noise, so that it may be situated relatively near buildings. It is economical; for example, a typical 300 PE plant will consume about 9 KW/hr. per day. Apart from periodic des- ludging and bearing inspection, the plant requires very little maintenance. During rotation, air entrapped inside the rotor drum makes the rotor semi-buoyant even when the biozone tank is full. This has the effect of minimising the shaft load and thus extending its life. Shaft failure is a common fault with open disc systems.
  • a method of manufacturing a rotor for a rotating biological contactor in glass-reinforced plastics material will now be described with reference to Figures 6 and 7 of the drawings.
  • raw chopped strand glass fibre in the form of a mat is rolled out on a suitable workbench.
  • the mat is coated with a resin such as STYPOL (Trade Mark) polystyrene resin including an air-curable catalyst.
  • STYPOL Trade Mark
  • the semi-rigid sheet is cut into a stock of elongate strips using a bench saw.
  • a suitable stock of rotor disc "blanks" is made in a similar manner.
  • a reversing jig 30 is employed, as shown in detail in Figure 6 and 7.
  • the jig 30 comprises a stand having two legs 31,32 supporting a central axle 33.
  • the axle 33 in turn supports a circular wooden template 34 fitted with six clamps 35 distributed at equally-spaced intervals about its circumference.
  • the template has a pattern of spiral locating grooves 37 cut therethrough, emanating from a central hub region 38.
  • the template can be revolved about the stand on the axle through an angle of 360 ° if desired, but may be locked in a substantially horizontal position by means of a locking pin 39.
  • the template 30 may also be removed from the stand and placed on a workbench.
  • the method of manufacture in accordance with the invention consists of the following steps:
  • any excess resin remains at the bonding sites along the edges of the vanes and cannot flow under gravity in the direction of the template, thus ensuring clean removal of the assembled rotor when the resin has cured and hardened. It is not necessary to maintain any precise control over the temperature and viscosity of the adhesive during curing.
  • the bond between the vanes and the rotor disc is also enhanced by the clamping action and the inherent weight of the vanes bearing down onto the rotor during bonding.
  • any excess resin which collects at the base of each vane forms a small "fillet" along the vane thus improving the bond with the rotor disc.
  • the thickness of the vanes and the discs is in the order of 5 mm and the height of the vanes is approximately 90 mm.
  • the rotor discs which have been assembled by a method of manufacture as described above may be sandwiched together to form the structure illustrated and described above with reference to Figures 1 to 4, to form a rotor for a rotating biological contactor.

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  • Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Molecular Biology (AREA)
  • Biodiversity & Conservation Biology (AREA)
  • Microbiology (AREA)
  • Hydrology & Water Resources (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Environmental & Geological Engineering (AREA)
  • Water Supply & Treatment (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Organic Chemistry (AREA)
  • Biological Treatment Of Waste Water (AREA)
EP19870305063 1986-06-10 1987-06-09 Improvements in rotating biological contactors, and a method for their manufacture Expired - Lifetime EP0249433B1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
IE153986 1986-06-10
IE153986A IE59152B1 (en) 1986-06-10 1986-06-10 Improvements in rotating biological contactors,anda method for their manufacture

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0249433A1 EP0249433A1 (en) 1987-12-16
EP0249433B1 true EP0249433B1 (en) 1990-11-07

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ID=11028725

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Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP19870305063 Expired - Lifetime EP0249433B1 (en) 1986-06-10 1987-06-09 Improvements in rotating biological contactors, and a method for their manufacture

Country Status (7)

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EP (1) EP0249433B1 (es)
DE (1) DE3766012D1 (es)
ES (1) ES2019384B3 (es)
GR (1) GR3001454T3 (es)
IE (1) IE59152B1 (es)
LU (1) LU86914A1 (es)
PT (1) PT85058B (es)

Families Citing this family (12)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
AT393376B (de) * 1988-09-12 1991-10-10 Kahlisch Richard Ing Belueftungsvorrichtung fuer die biologische wasserbehandlung, insbesonders fuer die aerobe reinigung von organisch verschmutzten abwaessern
IES57659B2 (en) * 1992-08-24 1993-02-10 Butler James Patrick J Apparatus for the treatment of sewage
GB9306226D0 (en) * 1993-03-25 1993-05-19 Graesser Contractors Ltd Means for continuous digestion of organic matter
DE19841825C2 (de) * 1998-09-12 2001-05-03 Richard Kraetzer Kg Rotationskörpervorrichtung zur aeroben Behandlung von Abwasser und flüssigen organischen Abfällen
DE19914204C2 (de) * 1999-03-29 2002-04-11 Schachtbau Nordhausen Gmbh Tauchtropfkörper-Vorrichtung und Verfahren zum biologischen Reinigen von Flüssigkeiten
US7083720B2 (en) * 2004-05-19 2006-08-01 Gary Miller Variously configurable rotating biological contactor and prefabricated components therefor
US8790913B2 (en) 2005-10-26 2014-07-29 Pbs Biotech, Inc. Methods of using pneumatic bioreactors
US7628528B2 (en) 2005-10-26 2009-12-08 PRS Biotech, Inc. Pneumatic bioreactor
FR2916436B1 (fr) * 2007-05-23 2011-08-12 Otv Sa Dispositif de traitement d'eau a disques et tambour rotatif, et procede correspondant.
US20090269849A1 (en) * 2008-04-25 2009-10-29 Pbs Biotech, Inc. Bioreactor Apparatus
US20170283289A1 (en) * 2014-11-03 2017-10-05 Miranda Cevre Ve Su Aritma Tecknolojileri Enerji Ve Tabi Muhendisli Musavirlik Insaat Imalat Ve Tic A biological waste water purification module
CN110615523A (zh) * 2018-09-25 2019-12-27 青海洁神环境能源产业有限公司 一种立体旋转式网状接触体转盘工作平台

Family Cites Families (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JPS5434544A (en) * 1977-08-23 1979-03-14 Dengyosha Mach Works Centrifugal disk for waste water treating device and method of producing same
US4160736A (en) * 1977-10-11 1979-07-10 Autotrol Corporation Rotating trickling filter
DE3409111A1 (de) * 1984-03-13 1985-09-19 Rheintechnik Weiland & Kaspar Kg, 6680 Neunkirchen Vorrichtung zur belueftung von wasser und zur biologischen klaerung von abwasser

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
PT85058A (pt) 1988-07-01
ES2019384B3 (es) 1991-06-16
LU86914A1 (fr) 1987-11-11
GR3001454T3 (en) 1992-10-08
DE3766012D1 (de) 1990-12-13
EP0249433A1 (en) 1987-12-16
IE861539L (en) 1987-12-10
PT85058B (pt) 1993-11-30
IE59152B1 (en) 1994-01-12

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